PR Pros: Continuity Supervisors
It's not really up for debate: Most people I know say one of their Top 10 all-time favorite movies is It's a Wonderful Life, starring the late, great Jimmy Stewart.
Did you know it contained a major blooper?
At one point, Stewart, as George Bailey, struts into the bank to place a phone call to his brother, Harry. When he walks in, he's got a giant wreath dangling from his right arm. He throws it on the table. The next second, he picks up the phone, and the wreath is magically back on his arm. Was Clarence the angel pranking us?
In cinema terms, that kind of mistake is known as a continuity error.
Another example: Braveheart (also on my all-time great list). As the English Cavalry is making their first charge, a vehicle can be seen parked in the background. (Pretty sure cars weren't a thing in the 13th Century.)
Another case ... Disney's 1999 Tarzan. This time it's a verbal faux pas. Jane and her father are excited about showing Tarzan to the world. Jane tells him, "Everyone's going to want to meet you." Her father quickly agrees, "Darwin! And Kipling! Queen Victoria!" The problem is that when Darwin died in 1882, Rudyard Kipling was just 17 years old, some 10 years away from publishing his famous work, "The Jungle Book." Tarzan had a right to scratch his head on that one.
Outside of the movie theater, in the click and clack of newsrooms and corporate cubicles, editors are tasked with catching inconsistencies. How many times a day do copy editors identify words that are at first capitalized but three sentences later are lower-cased?
Continuity supervisors in film and editors in media must be cognizant of everything that is being communicated and broadcast. They must be alert at all times to flag inconsistencies that could expose the overall movie or story to embarrassment or ridicule.
The above examples provide public relations practitioners an important lesson. Whether we realize it or not, we are the continuity supervisors for our organizations and clients, particularly when it comes to reputation and community conversation. It goes way beyond plucking out bad punctuation in a press release.
Case in point: the tragic hot-air balloon crash near Lockhart, Texas last year that killed all 16 people aboard. The United States has never experienced a balloon accident of that magnitude. Images of part of the craft lying in a field and video footage of recreational balloons were headlined hour after hour that weekend. It was a sad day. A day that had people in coffee joints, barber shops, bus stops, and homes speculating if their own travels could go awry.
A few hours later, I was scrolling through my Twitter feed when I noticed a large photo of hot-air balloons, with an inspiring quote typed across the picture. The tweet implied that if you're too afraid to rise to new heights, you'll never achieve your goals. Images of beautiful balloons soaring over the scenic countryside no longer inspired me.
At first glance, I was upset at the person's blatant insensitivity and was tempted to unfollow them. Then I realized it was likely a scheduled tweet, as the quote was later removed from their feed.
Had that tweet been posted by a company instead of an individual, it might have been a PR nightmare, causing days of lost labor in trying to regain their posture before the public.
As continuity supervisors, PR professionals are expected to know the ambiance of their publics at any given time. While impossible to be dialed into every conversation, it is our responsibility to tend to the social environment as if a multi-billion dollar organization is riding on it. Because it very well might be.